Hey bagobones, Iím glad you posted about the Suburban League National. The American side of the conference has lots of board activity and the National doesnít seem to get as much attention. I live in the area, I like to go to their games, and I know a few people at different levels for some of the schools. Here are some thoughts. Iíd love to hear from others also.
Wadsworth lost quite a bit of talent to run the same spread offense. I think they may go back to running the ball with that good RB they have back, but I donít know much about the OL. Hudson has it rolling culture wise. That can mean quite a bit, but I think they lose most of their best talent and I heard from one person (sorry for hearsay) the coaches may have had some turmoil. Stow is a mystery. Winning culture now, but new coach and less talent. The Bulldogs have been fun to watch. I canít imagine they wonít be in it. I think Twinsburg is up and coming. They always have a couple elite athletes and tough kids. North Royalton has very good coaches and when they get a little talent they can be dangerous. And their QB is very good! Brecksville is another team with a great young QB. They have a new coach also. The Bees usually play hard but seem small on the line(s). Nordonia has some good players returning and I think they have good coaches, but theyíve been down since those great years. The best JV teams (in my opinion) from the few I saw were; Wadsworth & Twinsburg
There are great stadiums, good athletes, well coached teams, terrific bands, enthusiastic fans and well attended games in this league. It typically produces two or three playoff teams each season in Div 1 & 2. Fun league to follow!

Hey bagobones, Iím glad you posted about the Suburban League National. The American side of the conference has lots of board activity and the National doesnít seem to get as much attention. I live in the area, I like to go to their games, and I know a few people at different levels for some of the schools. Here are some thoughts. Iíd love to hear from others also.
Wadsworth lost quite a bit of talent to run the same spread offense. I think they may go back to running the ball with that good RB they have back, but I donít know much about the OL. Hudson has it rolling culture wise. That can mean quite a bit, but I think they lose most of their best talent and I heard from one person (sorry for hearsay) the coaches may have had some turmoil. Stow is a mystery. Winning culture now, but new coach and less talent. The Bulldogs have been fun to watch. I canít imagine they wonít be in it. I think Twinsburg is up and coming. They always have a couple elite athletes and tough kids. North Royalton has very good coaches and when they get a little talent they can be dangerous. And their QB is very good! Brecksville is another team with a great young QB. They have a new coach also. The Bees usually play hard but seem small on the line(s). Nordonia has some good players returning and I think they have good coaches, but theyíve been down since those great years. The best JV teams (in my opinion) from the few I saw were; Wadsworth & Twinsburg
There are great stadiums, good athletes, well coached teams, terrific bands, enthusiastic fans and well attended games in this league. It typically produces two or three playoff teams each season in Div 1 & 2. Fun league to follow!

I didn't know anything was up with Nordonia possibly leaving the SL? I know on the American side, conversations of Barberton and Nordonia switching sides. Not sure if it's actually going to happen, just people spitballing ideas.

I'm not sure what to expect from Twinsburg this year, they definitely were a better team this season than in the previous seasons and they were a Junior/Senior dominated lineup. The record wasn't great last year but football games were fun to watch again last year.

The thing that concerns me most was the senior starters that are being lost were integral parts of the team.

Offense
QB - Grabowski
RB - McClain
WR - Edgerson

Defense
LB - Grammens

On offense last year the biggest improvement was from previous seasons was the rushing attack and McClain was pretty much the entire rushing offense last year. The offensive line play was better last year and 3 of the 5 starters return and I like the job the o-line coach was doing with this group last year. As far as the passing attack Edgerson's explosiveness (you felt any catch had a chance to go to the house with him) will be missed but we have other good returning receivers. I believe the QB situation will be better this year and it's not because Grabowski was a bad QB, but more the hope that they will not have a series to series QB rotation, that I felt stunted both QBs growth at the position last year.

The defense was better last year, especially against the run led by improved LB play but losing Grammens the leading tackler last year will be a big loss as he was a big part of that improvement. The defenses biggest problem last year was the pass defense, it gave up way too many big plays. The number of plays over 50 yards last year was ridiculous, mostly from bad angles taken by defensive backs on short crossing patterns, a lot of these big plays came on 3rd and long situations where we continued to play a tight man to man in the secondary instead of a zone and keeping everything short of the first down line. Hopefully, another year of experience will help with improved secondary play.

Not expecting to contend for a title but do expect to be competitive in games. Hoping to see continued improvement and that games continue to be fun to watch.